5 thoughts on “WaPo: Natural gas leaks come under scrutiny, raise questions on climate impact”
I knew what you meant, of course.
CO2 levels rise with warming due to out-gassing from the oceans. It would make sense if other CO2 reservoirs out-gas too. Perhaps the same is happening with methane and it has nothing to do with human activity. Everything in Earth’s history seems to indicate negative feedback loops that will tend to keep climate within narrow limits during any reasonable time frame. I’ll leave conditions 200 years from now to our ggggreat grandchildren.
My bad-I need to wake up.
“The scientists, in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, the United States and France, noted a second rise in methane in Medieval times, coinciding with a warm period from 800 to 1200 that also saw Europe’s economy emerge from the Dark Ages.”
If the Medieval warming period was due to methane released about 2000 years ago, the affect was delayed by something like 900 years.
According to what I’ve read, methane is a more effective heat-trapping element than CO2. If the rise in methane has tracked with stable temperatures, then its role is negligible. But if we could scavenge the free methane, possibly it would be a valuable energy source.
But a recent study indicates the Medieval warming period was due to the level of heat-trapping methane rising about 2,000 years ago. The methane was from deforestation and using charcoal for heating. Now there is a reason to regulate methane punitively. The only reason I can see for regulation is to avoid the explosive side of methane.
I sure am glad someone is keeping track of this. Methane concentrations have accelerated tenfold with no discernible change in global temperature. Someone might have gotten worried.
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I knew what you meant, of course.
CO2 levels rise with warming due to out-gassing from the oceans. It would make sense if other CO2 reservoirs out-gas too. Perhaps the same is happening with methane and it has nothing to do with human activity. Everything in Earth’s history seems to indicate negative feedback loops that will tend to keep climate within narrow limits during any reasonable time frame. I’ll leave conditions 200 years from now to our ggggreat grandchildren.
My bad-I need to wake up.
“The scientists, in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, the United States and France, noted a second rise in methane in Medieval times, coinciding with a warm period from 800 to 1200 that also saw Europe’s economy emerge from the Dark Ages.”
If the Medieval warming period was due to methane released about 2000 years ago, the affect was delayed by something like 900 years.
According to what I’ve read, methane is a more effective heat-trapping element than CO2. If the rise in methane has tracked with stable temperatures, then its role is negligible. But if we could scavenge the free methane, possibly it would be a valuable energy source.
But a recent study indicates the Medieval warming period was due to the level of heat-trapping methane rising about 2,000 years ago. The methane was from deforestation and using charcoal for heating. Now there is a reason to regulate methane punitively. The only reason I can see for regulation is to avoid the explosive side of methane.
I sure am glad someone is keeping track of this. Methane concentrations have accelerated tenfold with no discernible change in global temperature. Someone might have gotten worried.